Tuesday of Holy Week
Yes, you read that correctly. Today’s song is “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” Why a Christmas hymn in the middle of holy week? It has to do with the sermon Jesus preaches after arriving in Jerusalem for the Passover.
It’s understood that the Olivet Discourse, a teaching by Jesus found in Matthew 24 and 25, was preached on the Tuesday of Holy Week from the Mount of Olives, found just east of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is not an easy teaching by any means, which is consistent with the mood of the week. Jesus has already spent time in Jerusalem sharing lessons and parables about the kingdom while enduring the schemes and traps of the religious leaders, who want to trip him up and create an excuse to have him arrested. Jesus cleverly evades their theological machinations and turns the tables on them, confronting those entrusted to care for Israel with their own hypocrisy, wickedness, and spiritual blindness. After one such encounter, Jesus leaves the temple grounds with his disciples and remarks that the temple itself will one day be razed to the ground. After they arrive at the Mount of Olives, his disciples ask him, “When? When will these things happen? What signs should we be looking for?
Jesus’ answer to their question becomes the Olivet Discourse.
The picture of the end times that Jesus paints in Matthew 24 and 25 is one that has been debated by theologians time and again, and will be until the words in those passages come to pass. It isn’t fruitful, especially during Holy Week, to get too distracted by the desire to “figure it out.” What is helpful is to draw from it some simple, yet important, spiritual truths and principles:
Jesus will return.
Nobody knows when Jesus will return except God himself.
The days leading up to his return will be fraught with chaos, in both the spiritual and natural realms.
His return will bring a revelation of each person’s soul.
The people of God, while they wait for his return, should be wise and expectant.
Jesus thought it important to share this teaching with his disciples in the days leading up to his crucifixion, so it makes sense for us to ponder it as well as we journey through Holy Week.
But why a Christmas hymn?
“Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” is indeed a song for the Christmas season, but, like so many of our reflections on the coming of Jesus at the nativity, it also points us to his second coming. The language of the hymn is filled with wonderful and significant kingdom language for us to ponder as Easter approaches. It reminds us that Jesus is:
—The one who has come to set us free from fear and sin
—Our deliverer and desire
—Our strength, consolation, hope, and joy
—The one who rules in our hearts
—The King who brings in his gracious kingdom
—The one who will one day raise us to his glorious throne
So as we look ahead to the cross outside Jerusalem, we are also invited to look back to the stable in Bethlehem. This is why Jesus came to earth, why the one…
“…who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.”—Philippians 2:6-8 (NRSV)
It is good to reflect on the whole scope of Jesus’ mission as we approach its climactic point. And it is also good to remember that there is a greater fulfillment of the mission that is yet to come:
“Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”—Philippians 2:9-11 (NRSV)
Until that day when every knee bows and every tongue confesses, we heed the words of Christ to be diligent and good stewards of our time and kingdom resources. And we also heed his call to “keep watch,” singing “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus!”
Born thy people to deliver
Born a child and yet a king
Born to reign in us forever
Now thy gracious kingdom bring
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
Here are some other versions of the hymn with different musical styles:
Laura Story (upbeat worship, with added chorus)
Fernando Ortega (simple vocal and accompaniment)
City Church (acoustic worship band, with added verse)
Chris Tomlin & Christy Nockels (a cappella vocal with choir)
Questions for Reflection:
1) How does looking back on the nativity impact your reflections during Holy Week? Spend some time sitting with the wonder of the incarnation, knowing that the baby in the manger is now the man on the cross, offering his life for you.
2) Which of these descriptions of Jesus from the hymn speaks most to you today? Why?
—The one who has come to set us free from fear and sin
—Our deliverer and desire
—Our strength, consolation, hope, and joy
—The one who rules in our hearts
—The King who brings in his gracious kingdom
—The one who will one day raise us to his glorious throne
3) Jesus says of his return, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matt. 24:36, ESV) If we are not meant to know, why do you think so many followers of Jesus become so concerned with figuring it out? How comfortable are you living with the mystery?
4) From what “fears and sins” do you most need to be released? Spend some time with God being honest about them, and find rest in the one who is the “hope of all the earth.”
5) Read and reflect on this verse. Let it lead you into prayerful worship and gratitude:
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV)